Anti-corruption task team lacks will to carry out mandate, MPs hear

PARLIAMENT - South Africa's anti-corruption task team, an intergovernmental body meant to curb and collaborate on corruption probes, lacked the will to carry out its mandate, Members of Parliament (MPs) heard on Friday.

Robert McBride, head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), was briefing MPs on the watchdog's annual performance plan.

"On the anti-corruption task team, there is nothing going on there. We don't know when last we've been invited to one," said McBride.

"When we go there, there's a lot of talk, no action, a lot of bluff and bluster. It doesn't serve the purpose for which it was intended. The issue might be lack of will."

The Ipid, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the SA Revenue Service (Sars), the Auditor General (AG) and the Department of Justice all form part of the anti-corruption task team (ACTT).

MPs have previously lashed out at the task team, established in 2010 to ensure the speedier resolution of high-profile corruption cases, about its inability to carry out its mandate effectively.

McBride suggested on Friday that the members of the ACTT needed to be tackled head-on.

"Maybe in the present environment where there seems to be an intention to deal with crime, things might improve. At the moment, I think the important people in the anti-corruption task team, maybe we all need to be pulled into a room and rapped over the knuckles to do our work."